“We are trying to build a comprehensive offering so that a family as a unit will be able to look at Portea and say 'this meets a lot of my needs',” said CEO Meena Ganesh.Krithika Krishnamurthy | ET Bureau | September 21, 2015, 09:38 IST

BENGALURU: Portea Medical, a home healthcare company, has raised Rs 247 crore ($37.5 million) led by Accel's growth fund in the United States to expand its footprint across India and Malaysia.

As reported by ET in June, International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, participated in the round. The Series B round also saw financing from existing investors Qualcomm Ventures, Accel's India fund, and Ventureast.

“We are trying to build a comprehensive offering so that a family as a unit will be able to look at Portea and say 'this meets a lot of my needs',” said CEO Meena Ganesh.

Portea, which operates in 24 cities, focuses on general primary health care, post-hospitalization care, chronic disease management and allied services such as diagnostics and medical equipment on hire. It employs more than 3,000 people and plans to recruit an additional 5,000 over the next 18 months.

The company said it adds about 5,000 new users every month and has 60,000 visits every year. Accel's US fund put in over $20 million (Rs 131 crore) , while IFC made a $7 million (Rs 46 crore) investment, said Ganesh.

“This is our third venture capital healthcare investment in India and part of IFC's strategic approach to improve access to quality health services in Asia,” said Pravan Malhotra, IFC’s venture capital lead for South and Southeast Asia.

“The depth of the market is very big as affordable healthcare at the place where you need it and the time where you need it has not been available at all,” said Ganesh. Portea was started by two US residents, Zachary Jones and Karan Aneja, in 2012 and was then acquired by Growthstory in 2013, as Meena and her husband K Ganesh planned to foray into the healthcare business.

“Portea’s service actually improves health outcomes for patients because it combines highly trained physicians/nurses and technology, making the healthcare process more efficient and accessible,” said Arun Mathew from Accel, who will join the board of directors.

The company said it is also in talks Qualcomm's investee companies to see which of their wearables are appropriate to be brought into India as part of its offering.

Portea had previously received $9 million (Rs 59 crore) from Accel, Qualcomm Ventures and Ventureast in December 2013.

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